Every mystery shopping provider has a different way to rate your performance as a mystery shopper on the past assignments you have completed for that company. There are quite a few mystery shopping providers that use a shopper rating system to rate your performance. While the rating system for most of these providers is the same, each provider uses the system in a slightly different way. When you do your first few assignments with a provider that uses this system, you may not think much about it. However, after awhile, you will start to realize just how very important your shopper rating is!
What Is A Mystery Shopper Rating? The system that many mystery shopping providers use is based on a scale from 1 through 10, with 10 the highest score you can use. On each assignment you do, you will be provided with a rating. Most providers will use an averaging system to calculate your overall rating, which is beneficial for most shoppers. This means that if you have completed ten excellent assignments and earned a rating of 10 on each of them, and then get one 5, your rating would still be a 9 overall. However, some providers use the rating system more loosely. There calculation of your total rating as a shopper may be more loosely adjusted. So in the previous example, that one 5 rating you received may knock your rating down to a 5 or a 6.
Why Is It Important? Most of the providers that utilize a mystery shopper rating system also have a “minimum shopper rating” requirement on each assignment. The typical assignment may require a shopper to have a 5 or 6, but a handful of the select assignments require a higher rating. These assignments may be for a fine dining establishment, an overnight stay at a hotel, an amusement park, or something similar, and the pay is often much higher as well. Most shoppers have no trouble staying above the 5 or 6 rating and are therefore eligible for standard assignments. However, only the truly exceptional mystery shoppers would be eligible for the select assignments. If by chance your rating falls below a 5, you will have very little opportunity to work on assignments with that provider. So you do want to keep tabs on what your rating is and make every effort to keep your rating high.
How Can Your Get a Higher Rating? First and foremost, you want to do your best work on each and every assignment. This means performing the assignment at the specified time and on the specified date, following the assignment requirements to the letter, and submitting an error-free report before the deadline. Each provider has its little quirks, and some like report questions to be answered with more detail while others prefer less. The faster you learn these quirks, the sooner you can start earning 9s and 10s on each assignment you complete. You also don’t want to be bothersome or be unprofessional at any time with your schedulers.
Some mystery shoppers truly detest the rating system while others embrace it and strive to keep their rating up. Whatever your feelings on the rating system are, the bottom line remains that it is important because it is the key to your income potential with your providers.